The National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, opened to the public for the first time by hosting an International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) race walking tournament on Friday, with tens of thousands of people swarming into the landmark venue of the Beijing Olympic Games.

The National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, opens to the public for the first time on Friday. Xinhua Australian Jared Tallent and China's Liu Hong were the winners of the men's and women's 20km walk on the first day of the two-day tournament, but it seemed the stadium itself stole the spotlight because it was the first chance for most people to have a close look at the 91,000-seat venue which will host the track and field and soccer finals during the Games.

"I've looked at it many times from the outside, but it's even better inside," said Beijinger Wang Shiqiang.

"It's fantastic," agreed a woman surnamed Jiang.

Like many of the other spectators, Jiang bought her tickets online more than a week before, then she got up early and traveled for more than an hour with her family to watch the test tournament starting at 9 am.

An official with the organizing committee said 20,000 tickets were sold for Friday's two competitions.

The influx of visitors caused traffic jams on the nearby Fourth Ring Road.

"There are things that the organizers need to improve, such as providing more signs, as it's easy to get lost," Wang said.

Another two test events were also held in nearby venues - the synchronized swimming Olympic qualification tournament in the National Aquatics Center, or the Water Cube, and the Fencing World Championships in the Olympic Fencing Hall.